Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
Eleven area veterans were honored and given quilts during the Threads of Valor ceremony at the Kosciusko County Senior Center Tuesday.
Those honored were Terry Bussard, Joni Campbell, Michael Campbell, Teresa Cosgrove, Scott Fuller, Dennis Keyser, Steven Long, Dustin Mayer, James Whitaker, Jack Wolfe and Deane Pargeon.
Liberty Sewing Circle coordinator Marsha Huffman said this was the 21st time for the event.
In fall 2015, several local ladies started meeting at Warsaw’s Veterans of Foreign Wars to make quilts for veterans in Kosciusko County, Huffman said. A special request was made to the Liberty Sewing Circle to make a large quilt for a veteran in a nursing home to celebrate his 90th birthday. The circle’s vision grew with that by making standard-sized quilts for nominated veterans in Kosciusko County. The group needed a time and place to meet. It was worked out the Circle would meet at the Senior Center. So far, over 225 full-sized quilts have been given to veterans at Thread of Valor ceremonies.
The quilts are given as a token of appreciation to local veterans to thank them for their service and sacrifices. They were not being recognized as mere soliders, sailors, airmen, National Guardsmen, they were being recognized because they were also “our local heroes.” They left the comforts of home to answer the call of duty. They put on a uniform, many risking life and limb “in the face of great dangers in service of our country, protecting the ideals of America of liberty, freedom and justice, which we have the benefit of today,” Huffman said. “We must never forget the untold stories and sacrifices that they have endured for us, at home and around the world. Many have stories to share and many have stories they will never share.”
She said veterans have shaped America into what it is today.
Huffman said some nominated veterans “decline for various reasons.” Some of the reasons were to give the quilts to someone older or more deserving or the veteran never saw combat.
She asked veterans to remember they may not have seen battle, but they are no less important. One thing she reminded people is the homefront needed to be defended as well.
Huffman said the veterans at Tuesday’s event came from different walks of life, but they hold similar qualities: courage, pride, integrity, determination and dedication to duty and honor to the country. All of those qualities are needed to serve a cause greater than themselves.
Guest speaker Ken Locke said being a veteran is an honor but honoring veterans is an honor for him.
Tuesday morning when Locke was driving into town, he noticed four students at Washington STEM Academy putting up an American flag.
“Now, I wanted to pull around into the parking lot and get out and say something to those kids because they were having a good time putting that flag up, but the flag wasn’t going up very fast. They were dancing around; they were having a good time,” Locke said. He wanted to say to the students the flag they were raising was being raised because of men and women who have sacrificed their blood, sweat and tears for them to be able to do that.
“And I hope at some point in their lives, they will have the opportunity for someone to say that to them,” he said.
Locke also shared when he was growing up, there was a World War I veteran who lived next door. Locke’s father told him if the neighbor needed anything, they needed to take care of him.
There was another WWI veteran Locke knew that they helped get into a veterans home. Until that could happen, Locke said the veteran lived in a storeroom in their church’s basement.
“I’m so glad we live in a day and age where we can take care of our veterans,” he said.
Locke said that vision of those four students dancing around the flagpole dancing and celebrating “is what we all should be doing in America every day. We should get up in the morning and we should thank God that we were born in this country that we have the freedoms that we have, and that they’ve been preserved by men and women like this in order for us to enjoy them.”
Bussard served in the Air Force and was discharged with the rank of sergeant. He served from 1964 to 1968 in Vietnam. He was not in a combat zone.
Joni Campbell served in the Air Force, serving from 1981 to 2021. She was discharged with a rank of technical sergeant. Her longest station was in Fort Wayne. She served at the Pentagon for a year working with the defense communication system.
Michael Campbell was in the Air Force from 1982 to 2003 and the Navy from 1963 to 1971. His rank at his discharge was senior master sergeant. He was in the Navy during Vietnam.
Cosgrove served in the Army and was an E-5 sergeant. She was deployed to Iraq twice for six months each from 2008 to 2011.
Fuller served in the Air Force from 1981 to 1985.
Keyser served in the Army and Army National Guard, serving from 1974 to 1992. He served in Vietnam. He was an E-6 staff sergeant.
Long served in the Army from 1993 to 2003 and was a specialist. He served in Kosovo.
Mayer served in the Marines from 1993 to 1995, being discharged as an E-3. His longest station was in Japan.
Whitaker served in the Army from 1964 to 1967. From 1967 to 1970, he was in the Army Reserves. His rank of discharge was master sergeant.
Wolfe served in the Army from 1968 to 1975. His longest station was in Germany.
Pargeon served in the Air Force from 1949 to 1957. His longest station was in California.
